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CWA Calls on Congress to Put Workers First in NAFTA Negotiations

March 22, 2018

CWA, along with 1,000 labor, environmental, family farm, consumer, civil rights, faith, small business, public health, and other civil society organizations, sent a letter to Congress laying out criteria for renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Pointing to the loss of more than 930,000 American jobs and falling wages under NAFTA, the letter calls for a new agreement that puts workers first.

"President Trump and the Republican Congress have not lived up to their promises to bring good jobs back to the United States," said CWA President Chris Shelton. "In fact, with the new tax law that provides incentives for corporations to send jobs overseas, they have done the opposite. It's time to get serious about fixing our broken trade system and bringing jobs home by committing to a total rewrite of NAFTA."

"The new agreement must put a priority on raising wages and standards for all jobs, including call center and information technology jobs, so that American workers can compete on a level playing field. And it must remove the corrupt ISDS system that provides special protections for multinational corporations while leaving working people with no way to fight back when these same companies destroy their communities," Shelton said.